Google Adds Facial Recognition Into Play Movies for Android Tablets

If you stop by the Google Play Store on your Android tablet, be sure to check for an update for Play Movies and TV today, as it adds a pretty nifty feature. Using facial recognition, Play Movies will detect the actor you’re watching when paused, and bring you relevant information for the actor or actress. The feature is currently limited to only Android tablets, so don’t expect to see anything special on your Android phone just yet.

At the moment, there only seems to be a few supported movies that will allow you to use the feature but that should change in time. We loaded up X-Men on a tablet, and sure enough, the feature works great. Cards popped up for James Marsden, Hugh Jackman, and Anna Paquin when the movie paused. Multiple cards will be shown if more than one person has been recognized on the screen. Cards will provide Google Now-like information, as well as a list of movies the actor or actress are in that you can purchase from the Google Play Store.

What’s even more interesting, the feature will even let you know actors you “Just Missed” on the screen as well. Pretty neat stuff.

Overall, this is a pretty cool feature that will be very helpful when support for non-blockbuster movies is available. Chances are that you’ll probably know the actors recognized on the screen with the existing selection of supported movies, but being able to check what movies a particular actor is in on the fly is very cool.

While we have a hunch that Google has been working to get this feature up and running for a while now, it certainly reminds us of X-Ray for TV and Movies. This feature pulls relevant information from IMDB and is currently only supported on Kindle Fire tablets and Wii U.

As if we weren’t already spoiled, this feature makes it easier than ever to get relevant information about what you’re watching on your tablet.